Paedophile Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner, 48, is now living in woods and parks after being chased out of the small town he was placed in shortly after his release from prison
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is said to be living in a tent in the woods(Image: Gofundme)
The main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has been hiding in a secret woodland den after being chased out of town by furious locals, it has emerged.
Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist and paedophile, was released from prison in September after serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Portugal‘s Algarve region. It was the same area where Madeleine McCann went missing back in 2007.
The 48-year-old was named as the lead suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance by German prosecutors in June 2020, but detectives were unable to pin him to the crime before his sentence ran out.
The German paedophile was placed in a small town after his release, but locals launched furious protests(Image: Phil Harris / Daily Mirror)
After his release he registered himself homeless and was placed in small town in northern Germany, where he ended up in a ground floor flat. But locals reacted furiously to his arrival, shouting “scum” and “shame on you” as he walked into his new home, and an emergency meeting was held at the town hall after a petition was launched.
Just a few weeks later, police officers lined the street outside Brueckner’s building as he moved out. He then stayed in various hotels, and new photographs show his bizarre current residence – a cramped tent.
Brueckner is currently traveling through northern Germany with the tent, sleeping in forests and parks.
Madeleine McCann was three years old when she disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007(Image: METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Gett)
It comes after the sex offender started a sick GoFundMe page asking people to pay for him to leave Germany.
He is asking for €26,000 (£22,860) to leave the country using the popular fundraising platform to beg for donations. In the post addressed to the country’s taxpayers, he said: “I have the chance to leave Germany legally.
“Finally, a break from the constant wave of suspicion, the prejudgments, and the gruelling witch hunt, and into sunny nowhere. The only thing I’m missing is the money.”
He said for 10 Euros, people could fund his coffee at the airport and that 50 Euros could see him snapping up a one-way ticket to a country without the jurisdiction of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.
Brueckner is asking people for donations to help him leave Germany and move abroad(Image: NX)
Brueckner added: “Germany would have peace and quiet, the media would enjoy a well-deserved summer lull, and you could all say: ‘We have done something good – for the common good.’ Purely humanitarian, of course. Because everyone has the right to rest and a fresh start.”
Last week, the Higher Regional Court of Celle lifted strict conditions on Brueckner’s release which had required him to stay in Germany, surrender his passport and find a permanent residence as soon as possible.
Judges ruled that the restriction on his movement was not allowed under German law, as even an individual subject to conditions is “in principle free.” National media reported the ruling as a major blow for detectives, who fear that any attempt by Brueckner to flee the country will hobble the Madeleine McCann investigation.
